Lia's POV
I sat on the floor of my bedroom, my wardrobe doors open and several of my drawers also open; there were clothes everywhere. I let out a sigh and dropped my posture, letting my shoulders slouch down as I gave up trying to find something comfortable to wear that didn't make me look like a tramp. Demi was meant to be picking me up from work at 6pm, but I'd managed to convince her to let me go home for a couple of hours and she pick me up later. I turned my head to face my door as I heard footsteps outside.
"Are you alright Lia?" Saph's mother asked me as she passed my room, a pile of towels in her arms. I gave her a smile and nodded.
"Yeah I'm okay, thank you." I replied politely. She smiled warmly to me, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"You're ever so polite, you always have been. I appreciate that Lia, I really do." She spoke again, commenting on my response. I hesitated before I smiled at her, remembering what my mother always told me: Now, always remember your please and thank you's, and if you have nothing nice to say, it's best to keep quiet. I gave her a smile as a thank you, thinking that maybe saying thank you would be too cliche for the moment.
"I hear you're becoming quite friendly with a certain pop star..Demi Lovato?" She spoke again, causing my head to snap up to her at the mention of Demi's name. She chuckled little at my sudden response.
"Saph won't stop going on about it, how she's to thank for getting the tickets in the first place or something, I tend to zone out when she starts fangirling about something." She shook her head.
"Yeah, so do I." I laughed along.
"Well, I'll leave you to..this..now." She gestured to the mess of my room. I smiled and she returned one, walking off with her towels. I turned back to face my wardrobe, making a groaning noise from my throat as I let myself fall back onto the floor, covering my face with my arms.
"What the hell happened in here..?" I heard Rose's voice at my door, followed by a slight gasp from Saph. I sat up and turned to them, making puppy dog eyes at them and indicating for help.
"What are you doing?" She asked me again, hoping for a worded response this time. I sighed at fell back onto the floor again.
"Demi invited me over to hers this evening and I don't know what to wear." I mumbled, hoping they wouldn't pick up on the fact that it was Demi's place I was going to, but being disappointed.
"You're going to Demi's again!? Dude I am telling you, she likes you!" Saph blurted out for about the one hundredth time.
"Yeah well maybe I like her too." I said back, then instantly regretting what I'd said. I could've sworn I heard both Rose and Saph's jaws hit the floor after what I said.
"Say that again?" Rose whispered, not knowing what reality was at this moment.
"I think I like her.." I lowered the volume of my voice as I repeated my words, my eyes slowly crawling up to meet theirs. I bit my lip and turned myself away from them, feeling my face blaze up.
"Are you being serious?" Saph asked, also in disbelief. I simply nodded, unsure if I would be able to speak.
"At work today, I went outside in my lunch break-"
"Lia it's been raining all day why did you go out?" Rose asked me as she came over and sat on the floor beside me. "Lia oh my god what happened to your face!?" She exclaimed, noticing the huge bruise on my jawline which I had completely forgotten about.
"Let me finish.." I warned her. "I went out I don't know why I wasn't thinking, just because..well..you know what today is..on my way out I crashed into a rail that Theo was dragging along and I hit my face on it, hence the bruise, but anyway when I was outside Demi was driving along the back streets and she saw me and took me inside and dried my clothes for me and re-did my hair so I didn't look like a drowned rat. She was really sweet and she genuinely cared..like she would've just kept going if she didn't care.." I trailed off the end of my sentence. Saph and Rose were sat either side of me now, both listening to what I had to say.
"What was she doing driving down back streets?" Rose asked. I looked up at her, about to claim I didn't know, but then realised.
"I think she was going to get coffee, there's a little place on the corner a couple of blocks from Topshop, she likes to go there because there's a lot less people, and she knows the guy he always keeps her location private." I explained. Rose looked at Saph and smiled a little.
"Okay, we're gonna help you find something to wear. Are you staying over there or just going for the evening?" Rose spoke, standing up and circling around my clothes covered bed.
"I think I'm staying. I don't know she might have other friends going too." I added, taking away both of their sexually programmed imaginations therefore removing all chance of them telling me I'll 'get some'.
"Right so you want something comfy because you'll be sitting around a lot probably," Saph said. "But not something too slouchy." Rose finished her sentence. They both rummaged through piles of my clothes, gathering random articles of clothing and tossing them around the place. Meanwhile, I sat on the floor waiting for them to sort my life out for me.
"Here." Saph said, indicating I look up at what they selected for me. (A/N: pic on the side)
Demi's POV
"Mar, are you free tonight?" I spoke on the phone to my best friend Marissa. I had the idea of inviting her over as well as Lia, firstly to introduce my best friend to the girl I keep talking about to her, and secondly, so that Lia can get her mind off of everything she's thinking about, especially after what happened at her work today. I wanted her to feel comfortable, and Marissa is so easy to be around I really hope they like each other as much as I like them both.
"You need me?" She asked.
"I invited Lia over, wondered if you wanted to meet her and we could have a girly night, you up for it?" I offered, hoping she'd say yes.
"Uh yeah, I told Tiff I'd go see her today but she won't mind me rearranging the date." She told me.
"Oh, if you can't make it don't worry, how is Tiff have you talked to her much lately?" I asked her.
When I worked on Sonny With a Chance back in 2009, I met Tiffany, she played Tawni Hart on the show, and on and off set we were really good friends, Mar often came to set with me and she ended up becoming pretty good friends with Tiff too. I lost touch with her before going to rehab, and I've only seen her a few times since I got out because Marissa insisted I go with her to see her, but other than that I was busy with the album and the documentary. She's now 5 months pregnant with her first baby, and Marissa goes over to see her quite often. She loves kids and has promised Tiff she'd help out since she wants to be a part of baby Carney's life.
"No Dems it's alright I'll go over there at the weekend or something, she's still got 4 months to go I'm not gonna miss anything." She chuckled. I smiled as I held my phone to my ear.
"Okay, well I'm going to get Lia at 8pm so come over about 9? She lives quite far out so it'll take me a while both ways." I explained to her.
"Okay Dems, see you then." She said. I hung up the phone and checked the time: 6:43pm. Sigh. So long to go before I can see Lia. I feel so protective of her, and not being able to see her right now knowing how rough she's been today is killing me. I opened up my messages on my phone and opened up the conversation thread between Lia and I.
Hey princess, just letting you know I'll be leaving here about half 7 so I shouldn't be much later to you than 8pm. Don't forget something to sleep in, I won't be able to afford to lose more of my lazy clothes ;) See you soon x
I sent the message and locked my phone, setting it beside me. I exhaled deeply before getting up off the floor beside my bed and making my way to my closet. I opened the left door and pulled open a drawer at the bottom, pulling out a huge fluffy blanket, almost identical to my beige coloured one but this one was gray. I collected my beige one from the end of my bed too and carried them into the living room, laying them out across the couches. I went back to my room to grab some cushions, and then noticing my phone lit up on the floor where I left it. I picked it up and saw a message from Lia, causing my stomach to fill with butterflies already.
Hey you, looking forward to it and I'll be ready for 8pm. Don't worry, I have my own stuff, I wouldn't want to take 10 bucks from your millions to buy new lazy clothes ;) See you soon x
I felt a smile creep up on my face as I read her response to my little joke. She sure knows how to sass me back, I love that about her. Wait, what..? It thought instantly. I bit my lip, realising what I'd just thought.
"Maybe..I..really like her.." I whispered to myself.
Lia's POV
"So what time will you be back tomorrow?" Saph asked me as I carried by bag down the stairs to wait for Demi. Rose had gone home so it was just us two and her mum home now.
"I have no idea, I don't have work tomorrow so it could be any time. I'll let you know don't worry." I told her, only half paying attention to her as I looked out the window to look out for Demi's car. I half heard her say something else, but since I wasn't listening I missed it all, my attention fully focused on the window.
"Lia?" She said my name in an attempt to get my attention.
"Huh? What?" I turned to face her. She rolled her eyes.
"I said, why aren't you working tomorrow?" She repeated.
"Oh, well I tried to get today off for obvious reasons and they wouldn't let me, but offered tomorrow so I took it. Besides I could use a day off." I explained to her. I heard a car horn from outside go off, taking my attention away from Saph once again.
"She's here. I'll text you later or something okay?" I said to Saph as I grabbed my bag and headed for the door.
"Yeah sure. Have fun." She said flatly, before turning and heading to her room. I shook my head at her weird mood and turned back to the door, fumbling with the handle to get out the house.
As soon as I saw Demi my stomach filled with those little annoying butterflies that make me stutter and mess up when I talk which then makes me blush. It was weird, but I kind of get it. I waved at her as I walked to her car, receiving a gorgeous white smile back from her. I threw my bag on the back seat and got in the car, putting on my seat belt and getting myself comfy.
"Hey, you look beautiful." Demi said quietly as she pulled away from the house. Instantly my cheeks flooded red and my breath caught up in my throat.
"Hey, thank you but have you seen yourself?" I followed her compliment. She giggled and shook her head a little.
"You're cute. How're you doing then princess?" She asked me, adding my little nickname to her question. I smiled and bit my lip, trying to conceal how wide my smile was trying to be right now.
"I'm doing better now since you're here to keep me sane." I told her truthfully. She looked over to me after I spoke, her eyes quickly examining me before turning back to the road.
"I'm glad." She accepted my answer. "You feel better then?" She asked. I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I do actually. I think I need a bit of time off you know? I've been working most days for two weeks it'll be nice not doing anything boring tonight or tomorrow." I gave her a fuller answer. I saw her smile out the corner of my eye, her perfect pearl-white teeth glistening as the city lights hit them.
"Well we're just gonna be lazy tonight. I hope you don't mind but I invited. Marissa over too, she's been wanting to meet you for a while now so I thought we could all have a nice girly night in. Is that okay?" Demi asked me. She seemed a little unsure as to whether or not I'd be okay with her best friend being there.
"Yeah absolutely, I'd love to meet your 'biff'." I laughed a little as I quoted what Demi and Marissa called each other, at least from what I see on twitter. She laughed too, shaking her head slightly, most likely at my geeky knowledge of her nicknames.
"This is why you're so cute. I guess this is also why I feel like I've known you for so much longer than I have, you know like the little things about me, I didn't think my fans picked up on that. Most people are just like 'your story helped me ask for help' and just commenting on the more publicised things." Demi explained to me.
"Well, as someone who is a proud fangirl, I supposed I should inform you that most things you do are taken into account by the majority of the fanbase. Especially the little things, or the less publicised things. Of course the main talk for ages has been the album, the documentary, recovery and the things that paparazzi take notice of, but like if you say something cute to Maddie on twitter everyone picks up on that too, most people wish you'd be their big sister." I laughed at how ridiculous I was making the fanbase sound.
"Wow," she laughed. "I had no idea people actually obsessed to that extent." She giggled, her face turning a dark shade of pink.
"That's just a little part of it, don't even get me started on the 'ships'." I laugh again, thinking of all the crazy Demi ships there are floating around on social media.
"Oh god, maybe we'll save that one for another occasion!" She laughed more. "But that reminds me, you need to meet Maddie too oh my god she'll love you." Demi added once she had managed to control her beautiful laugh.
"I'd love to meet Maddie!" I jumped in my seat a little at the idea.
"Yeah? We'll do that soon, maybe you could come to Texas with me and go back to our old house soon..?" She asked, lingering on the 'n' of her last word as she spoke.
"Yeah I'd love to come with you Demi but I don't know if I'll be able to get time off work any time soon." I scrunched up my face.
"Well we don't have to go like right now, but you definitely have to come some time." She made it final.
*****
"Demi do you want me to get that?" I called to Demi from her living room to where she was in her bedroom, after hearing a knock on the door.
"Yeah it's just Marissa!" She called back to me.
I was kind of nervous about meeting Marissa, I knew from what Demi had told me about their friendship and what I'd seen online that they really mean a lot to each other. I wanted Marissa to like me.
I got up off the sofa and quickly made my way to the front door, twisting the handle to open it.
"Hey! It's Lia, right?" I was greeted very warmly by Marissa at the door.
"Yeah that's me!" I replied as she pulled me into a hug.
"It's so great to finally meet the famous Lia Harrington, Demi talks about you-"
"Hey Marissa how're you doing?" Demi asked her, deliberately cutting her off mid-sentence.
"Offended, I was talking." Marissa pretended to be hurt by Demi's interruption.
"Yeah well I think you've already said enough. Jeez and you've only just walked in." Demi muttered quietly as she walked into her kitchen and pulled out a few drinks from the fridge. I bit my lip a little feeling as if the tension was my fault.
"She does like to talk about you." Marissa whispered to me as we both watched Demi get some drinks. I looked at her, examining her face, her eyebrows furrowed slightly indicating the seriousness of her comment.
"I don't know if I should be thrilled about that or worried." I whispered back, turning my head back to look at Demi.
"Oh she would never say anything negative about you, it's always only good things." She replied. I didn't say anything, instead just gave myself some time to process the information.
"Demi do you need a hand?" Marissa spoke loudly beside me, causing my body to jump slightly at the sudden noise.
Demi's POV
"Demi do you need a hand?" Marissa called over to me from where she stood beside Lia.
She'd said something to her, I could tell by the way Lia stood looking at me and how her eyebrows were beginning to knit together. I know my best friend, I know she doesn't have a bad bone in her body, but what could she possibly have said to make Lia think like that? I know she's thinking: that posture, the eyebrows, the nibbling of her bottom lip; that's her thinking face.
"Sure." Was all I said, letting her come over to me. I put the bottles of fizzy drinks down on the counter and moved over to the cabinets to get some glasses.
"Are you okay..?" Marissa asked me, the volume of her voice lowered almost to a whisper.
"Yeah, I just need this to be a good night for her, she's had a rough day and I don't know what you just said to her but she's thinking and I don't like it." I immediately expressed my rant to my best friend. We were nothing if not bluntly honest with each other.
"Dems, I didn't say anything to offend her-"
"I know you'd never do that Mar, but I know that face that's her thinking face." I cut her off, making sure she knew I wasn't acusing her of saying something horrible.
"I just told her that you like to talk about her and that you've never said a bad word about her. How do you know she's thinking I don't get it..?" She told me, then questioned my ability to read faces.
"Uh..I just..I'm good at reading faces.." I said, which wasn't entirely true.
"Or you're good at studying faces. One face. Her face." Marissa caught me out. My heart was racing as she questioned me, my teeth gnawing on my lip.
"I'm so..compelled..to her Mar, I don't know what it is about her but she's so intriguing to me, and yeah okay I've spent some time looking at her, it's not like she's hard on the eyes.." I trailed off the end of my sentence, my eyes drifting over to where Lia sat on one of my couches, her phone in one hand and the other resting under her chin.
"You like her." Marissa spoke, causing me to snap out of my trance.
"You haven't become close to anyone since..well, since Wilmer and-"
"Wilmer and I still keep in touch, it's not so easy to maintain a relationship when one of us was completely out of it and then in rehab." I snapped unintentionally at Marissa, half pissed that she brought him up.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
"My bad, touchy subject. But you like her..don't you?" She questioned me some more.
"We can't talk about this now okay? Maybe another time when I understand what I feel for her, just not right now." I told her, picking up a glass filled with lemonade and heading over to Lia.
(A/N: Hellooooo :P This chapter was kinda just a filler, but also still relevant.
Things to think about:
1.) Have Lia and Demi realised their feelings?
2.) Do they really have feelings or is it just confusion?
3.) Will anything happen at the sleepover?
And just a quick question, the mention of Wilmer, should he be a part of this story too or just a mention every now and then? Comment and let me know :D x)